Amien unconcerned about PKB's plan

Amien unconcerned about PKB's plan

JAKARTA (JP): The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais said on Saturday that he was not worried about the National Awakening Party (PKB)'s plan to return to the legislature with the main mission of unseating him.

"Please go ahead. But be sure to abide by the existing rules and procedures just as we did in ousting Abdurrahman Wahid from the presidency due to his mistakes," Amien said as quoted by Antara.

PKB Secretary-General Muhaimin Iskandar said on Tuesday that his party would return to the legislature with the main mission of ousting Amien for his alleged role in ousting Abdurrahman from the presidency.

"The PKB's main target will be Amien and we will be seeking an appropriate time to call him to account for the numerous transgressions he has committed. We want to see him step down or be replaced," Muhaimin said.

PKB suspended all its activities in the legislature in protest against the special MPR session on July 23 which led to the impeachment of Abdurrahman, who is also chairman of the party's advisory council. But the party later considered the possibility of reviving its faction in the legislature.

Speaking to journalists after attending a ceremony for the inauguration of Supriyanto as a professor at the school of agriculture of Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Amien said anybody, who did not wish him to be the MPR speaker, could seek the appropriate mechanism to oust him.

"If I am proven to have made mistakes, I will surely agree to step down," said Amien, who is also the general chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Amien further commented that the sooner the PKB revives its faction at the legislature the better it will be so as to make the legislature united again.

"Without the PKB faction in the legislature, there is something missing as we already feel we are one family," he said.

According to him there are two approaches for the party's comeback -- "exclusively" or "implicitly". In selecting the exclusive approach, the party has to clearly state the date of the revival of their faction, he said.

But under the implicit approach, the party's return to the legislature means that they totally accept the results of the Special Session, Antara reported.

"So just please feel free... choosing the exclusive way is clear and the implicit way is also understandable," he said. (hhr)